Gasoline and diesel cars should be banned – whatever the cost. At least in Sweden. That's what Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari thinks. The bill ends up with the drivers.
Sweden insists on maintaining a ban on diesel and petrol cars from 2035, even though several other EU countries oppose it. The discussion about the future of the car market is creating political disagreement, especially among member states such as Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which want to lift the ban.
While many countries are pushing to change course, Sweden believes that the EU's plan to only allow the sale of electric cars should be maintained.
According to Sweden's Minister of Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari, it is crucial that the EU continues to work towards full electrification of the car market.
Despite internal adjustments in Sweden, where the gasoline tax has been lowered and the electricity tax has been raised, the country maintains its support for the requirement for 100 percent electric cars from 2035.
"I am very concerned about this development. We are following it closely and will do everything to ensure that the legislation is not changed," Pourmokhtari said, according to the TT news agency, after a meeting with EU environment ministers in Brussels.
The goal of a 90 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2040 was also discussed at the meeting, an ambition that Sweden also supports.
The discussions highlight the challenges the EU faces in trying to secure a united response to climate change. Opposition from several member states, including Italy, has increased pressure on the EU's conservative group, which continues to push against a ban on internal combustion engines.
At the same time, it is clear that individual countries such as Denmark do not have the freedom to introduce their own bans on diesel and gasoline cars.
The EU already determined in 2019 that a complete ban on the marketing, import or registration of new fossil-fuelled cars is not compatible with EU rules. The then EU Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska emphasized this to the Danish Parliament's European Affairs Committee.
In Denmark, parties such as Venstre and SF have proposed that the sale of diesel and petrol cars be banned from 2030. But that is illegal. On that point, Denmark must follow EU rules, and there is no way around it.
Elzbieta Bienkowska wrote this already in 2019 in a response to the Danish Parliament's so-called European Affairs Committee.
– Under current EU type-approval legislation, a complete ban on the placing on the market, import or registration of new petrol and diesel cars in a Member State is not compatible with EU law.
